The Justice Department has expanded its investigation into Tesla’s business practices to include how far its vehicles can travel on a full charge and “personal benefits” for high-ranking executives or large shareholders, the company said without elaborating.
The disclosure followed recent reports that the automaker appears to have misled customers about how far its vehicles could go before needing to plug them in.
Tesla also said in a regulatory filing that the government had subpoenaed documents related to “personal benefits” and unidentified “related parties,” a term that often refers to senior management, company directors or large shareholders.
The U.S. attorney’s office in New York has investigated whether funds were misappropriated at a home planned for Elon Musk, the company’s chief executive, near Tesla’s factory in Austin, Texas, The Wall Street Journal reported in August. The U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment Monday.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
“To our knowledge, no government agency in any ongoing investigation has concluded that any wrongdoing occurred,” the company said in the filing, a quarterly report to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Tesla said it was cooperating with authorities.
Reuters and Consumer Reports have reported that Tesla vehicles did not meet, in road tests, the range indicated by the Environmental Protection Agency, which tests cars on rollers in a laboratory. Automakers have some discretion when setting up cars for testing and can influence the results.
The range of all battery-powered cars is affected in cold climates, but a Tesla Model Y sport utility vehicle that Consumer Reports tested fell at least 50 miles below the claimed range even in warm weather.
The Ford Mach-E and Volkswagen ID.4 SUVs exceeded their claimed hot-weather ranges when Consumer Reports tested them in conditions identical to the Tesla vehicle. A Hyundai Ioniq 5 came within two miles of its EPA range.
Tesla had previously revealed that the Justice Department had issued subpoenas for documents related to its self-driving software. Tesla is the subject of lawsuits that claim the software played a major role in crashes that caused deaths and injuries and fails to live up to claims about its performance made by Musk and the company.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board, the SEC and several local and international authorities have also requested information, Tesla said without providing details.
Tesla shares have fallen 13 percent since Wednesday, when the company reported that third-quarter profits fell 44 percent after cutting prices on its models.
